Preservation of biopharmaceutical materials, such as cryopreservation, is important in the manufacture, use, transport, storage and sale of such materials. For example, biopharmaceutical materials are often preserved by freezing between processing steps and during storage. Similarly, biopharmaceutical materials are often frozen and thawed as part of the development process to enhance the quality or to simplify the development process.
When freezing biopharmaceutical materials, the overall quality, and in particular pharmaceutical activity, of the biopharmaceutical materials is desirably preserved, without substantial degradation of the biopharmaceutical materials.
The preservation of biopharmaceutical material, particularly in bulk quantities, often involves placing a container containing liquid biopharmaceutical material in a cabinet freezer, chest freezer or walk-in freezer and allowing the biopharmaceutical material to freeze. Specifically, the container, which is typically one or more liters in volume and may range up to ten or more liters, is often placed on a shelf in the cabinet freezer, chest freezer or walk-in freezer and the biopharmaceutical material is allowed to freeze. These containers may be stainless-steel vessels, plastic bottles or carboys, or plastic bags. They are typically filled with a specified volume to allow for freezing and expansion and then transferred into the freezers at temperatures typically ranging from negative 20 degrees Celsius to negative 70 degrees Celsius or below.
Disposable bulk storage containers such as plastic bags or other flexible containers often are damaged, leading to loss of the biopharmaceutical material. Particularly, the volumetric expansion of the biopharmaceutical materials during freezing could generate excessive pressure in an over filled bag or in a pocket of occluded liquid adjoining the bag material, possibly leading to rupture or damage to the integrity of the bag. Moreover, handling of such disposable containers, such as plastic bags, during freezing, thawing, or transportation of these containers often result in damage thereof, due, for example, to shock, abrasion, impact, or other mishandling events arising from operator errors or inadequate protection of the bags in use.
Similarly, thawing of bulk biopharmaceutical materials may involve removing them from a freezer and allowing them to thaw at room temperature. In certain situations thawing can also lead to product loss. In addition, in certain situations rapid thawing of biopharmaceutical materials may result in less product loss than slower thawing. Further, it may also be desirable to control temperature of the biopharmaceutical materials during a thawing process since exposure of some biopharmaceutical materials to elevated temperatures in certain situations may also lead to product loss. For example, it may be desirable to maintain a thawing biopharmaceutical material at about 0° C. when still in liquid and solid form during thawing thereof. In situations where thawing is desirable it is necessary to protect the biopharmaceutical material from damage which may occur due to impact or rupture to the containers.
Also, in certain situations it is desirable to analyze the quality or other characteristic(s) of biopharmaceutical materials held in a container. It is necessary to thaw an entire quantity of biopharmaceutical material frozen in such a container while analysis results are only required for a small portion of the total volume in the container.
Thus, there is a need for systems and methods for freezing, thawing, and storing biopharmaceutical materials, including containers and holders for such containers usable for the freezing, thawing, transporting and storing of biopharmaceutical materials. Also, there is a need for systems and methods which allow the testing of a portion of a processed biopharmaceutical material without thawing and testing an entire quantity of such processed biopharmaceutical materials.